Keeping it in the family
by Gothicpug
Summary: Blackwall and Inquisitor Alexia have some fun at a noble's expense.


Keeping it in the family.

-oOo-

As noble families across Orlais began flocking to affiliate themselves with the building force of the inquisition, it became more and more frequent that the inquisitor herself received personally invitations to balls and formal dinners. It was inevitable, after the successful foiling of the assassination plot against Empress Celene by her sister at the Winter palace, that the Inquisition, more specifically, the lady Inquisitor, would have her theoretical skirts pulled by the nobility who desperately vied for her support within the legendary _Game_.

Lexie despised playing the Game and made that very clear after the incident at the Winter palace.

As much as the inquisitor protested however, there were still times when her presence _was _required in order to secure allies or contracts. Orlesian nobles did so enjoy flaunting the Inquisition's attendance, especially between families.

That particular night, a noble woman whose husband had recently pledged allegiance to the Inquisition held a dinner in honour of the event. This, of course, had been part of the bargain. The Inquisition got the nobles money and influence within Orlais and in return, the inquisitor, her closest members of council and some of her companions would attend the noble's wife's dinner.

The noble's wife had gone all out, to say the least. The finest wine was served in goblets which never remained empty for long and the most decadent food was placed upon the table on silver plates which occupied every inch of table space as possible.

This was not uncommon of course and frightfully boring to the inquisitor, the novelty of which had worn off several dinner parties ago.

Leliana took such pleasure in these parties. Anything to do with the Game thrilled the spymaster to bits. Lexie watched her from across the table as she laughed coyly and took the hand of the noble woman sitting beside her, patting it tenderly as they talked excitedly.

Lexie was pleased she was having a good time. But it couldn't have been further from the experience she herself was having.

She puffed out a breath as she emptied her goblet again, which was filled once more by a waiting servant almost as soon as she'd placed it down upon the table and sat with her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her knuckles.

The talk between herself and the masked nobles either side of her had petered out, despite her best efforts to answer their questions in patient, intelligent and eloquent manner.

The night had already dragged on as far as she was concerned and yet many of the nobles were still stuffing themselves.

Varric was busy regaling the delighted nobles with his tales, occasionally stopping to sign an autograph. His books had been selling well in Orlais apparently and he was currently locked in stern talks with his publisher about certain profits he hadn't received.

He winked over at her when he spotted her watching and she returned with a weak smile.

"This seat taken?"

Alexia jumped when she heard the soft growling voice she recognized immediately. Blackwall scooted the empty chair to her left back and dropped down into it, none too gracefully.

"There was someone there... I didn't see them leave though..." she murmured and sat back in her own seat.

" I'm not surprised." He chuckled. "You've been in a daze for a fair while. Several people have tried to talk to you and found you wanting."

Lexie made a rude noise with her tongue and her grey warden companion smirked.

"Good. I'm bored with all this."

"I think I might know why." He replied, leaning toward her. Lexie inhaled deeply. He'd had a rare wash before they'd attended dinner and his usual musk was smothered by the smell of lightly scented soap. It was odd on him and Lexie found herself yearning for the the usual Blackwall scent. The smell of smoke which clung so stubbornly to his beard and hair from both his pipe and the fire in the barn. The slight smell of sweat and musk that she often left the barn just after dawn smelling of.

As much as the others might of complained, the rugged drifter perfume he carried drove her to swoon.

"Why?" she asked him.

"You've been seated too far from Sera." He nodded down the table to the blonde elf. She looked the way Lexie felt as she sat with her head slumped on the table, spinning a spoon round and round on the table top as the 'knobs' spoke over her.

"I dunno how you two even coped before you met." Blackwall commented. He had a point. Lexie liked crazy. Sera was defiantly that. Lexie liked Sera's brand of crazy too. Mostly playful with some vulgarity and potential violence thrown in for good measure. They'd clicked from the moment Sera had put that arrow in the knobs face.

Blackwall liked it too for some reason. Of course, he had a good couple decades on both Sera and Lexie but there was a silly side to him all three could appreciate.

Lexie, of course, appreciated more than that about him though and on a regular basis recently.

"Maybe Dorian has a spell that will join us at the hip." She smiled a little as she picked up a boiled egg and tossed it in Sera's direction. The egg landed in the elf's goblet with a plop and she jumped before peering into the goblet and then down the table to Lexie, who stuck two fingers up at her and stuck her tongue out impishly.

"Box of dogshit!" Sera yelled down the table, waving her arms toward the nobles either side of her and cackling loudly.

"I think she's taken what you said about nobles to heart." Lexie laughed and looked from Sera to Blackwall. The rumbling from his chest and the grin he was giving probably mean he agreed.

"Inquisitor!" a flowery Orlesian voice sang at her from the head of the table.

Lexie's smile faded and was replaced with a neutral, professional, but tentative expression.

"Yes my lady?"

The woman addressing her was the hostess for this particular party. They'd spoken briefly throughout but it had been small talk and although the woman had _insisted _Lexie be there, she'd made no real effort until now.

She smiled over, goblet in hand. Her hair was perfectly quaffed, as was most of her dress. Purple and gold. It would have looked beautiful had it not had so many skirts and ruffles. A dozen orphaned children could have made their beds within the ostentatious material, Lexie was sure of it.

"Inquisitor..." Her thick accent dripped with honey. "I'd just like to say how honored I am you attended tonight."

"Yes my lady." Lexie responded. "You have said."

The hostess, with her red painted pout simpered before taking a delicate sip from her goblet.

"And how wonderful that you brought your companions." she commented after a moment.

"Yes they seem to be enjoying your hospitality-!" Pain shot through her shin and Lexie bit the inside of her mouth to stop herself from yelping. Her eyes shot to the seat opposite her at the table to see Dorian's smug leer as he fluttered his eyelashes at her.

"Oh and what hospitality it is!" He cooed. "That duck Pate was divine!"

Lexie pulled a face at him and Dorian grinned obnoxiously. She had no trouble sticking her blades into things and ripping out intestines and innards but eating them was another matter completely.

"It is a specialty of my chef." The hostess beamed with pride.

Lexie rolled her eyes in Blackwall's direction. He was sipping his wine but she could still see his amusement from the glint in his slate eyes and the upward turn of the corners of his lips.

"What about your father? Has he had a good night?" The hostess's voice pulled Lexie's attention back toward the head of the table.

"My...father?" what an odd question Lexie thought. There was a strange silence from Dorian across the table too. He almost looked...aghast?

"Yes, your father." The hostess repeated, waving her dainty, white gloved hand toward Blackwall beside her.

Eye's widening, mouth flapping slightly, Lexie turned her head to look at the grey warden beside her. He seemed as bewildered as she for a moment.

Dorian's face remained unchanged and judging from the pause in conversation around the table, the other inquisition members had heard too.

"Has your father enjoyed the food and drink? He's certainly had a fair drop of wine." The hostess continued, oblivious to the mistake.

Pulling herself together, Lexie fought to close her flapping mouth and swallowed any sort of rude curse that had come to mind.

"My father?...Why...yes." she managed to get out without sounding take aback.

And then the worst, best idea she'd ever had sprang to mind. Turning in her chair, she took Blackwall's free hand in her smaller ones. She affectionately patted the top of his hand before speaking.

"Daddy? The nice lady wants to know if you've had a nice time? Have you had enough to eat and drink?" She spoke to him as you would a child, or a senile old relative.

The warden slowly lowered his goblet, the confusion clear on his face. It didn't last long however because realization finally hit him.

He expression quickly became gruff and he grunted. "Yea, it's been good."

"Good" Lexie nodded and leaned to kiss his cheek. nothing too shocking. the simple affection you'd get between a parent and a child.

Downing the rest of his wine and putting his goblet down on the table, Blackwall stretched his arm along the back of Lexie's chair as she settled back.

It seemed like the joke was over. Dorian was tittering to himself and Varric and Sera were snickering. Cassandra spared them an unimpressed look and Cullen simply smiled and went back to poking stray truffles round his plate. He'd had a _really _bad night. The noble ladies adored him. He'd been proposed to at least twice from Lexie's knowledge. Might have been more since she'd lost interest.

"Now now love..." Blackwall leaned closer and Alexia found herself moving to meet him halfway. "That's not how you kiss me. Give your dad a _proper _kiss."

The air left her lungs in a gush as his lips crushed against hers and she couldn't strangle the moan she gave into his mouth. Fire flared up in the pit of her stomach and into her chest, causing her heart to race and her body to tremble.

The table fell deathly quiet then, save Varric who began coughing violently to cover his laughter and Sera who hooted and squealed.

The Noble woman's face twisted into one of sheer horror behind her mask, her mouth hanging agape. Lexie's hand reached into Blackwall's beard and tugged deliberately, earning her a growl from the bear of a man. In return, his hand traced up her thigh, groping unashamedly and savoring the shudder his younger lover gave.

The inquisitor could feel the wanton desire race through her, leaving her underwear damp and her nerves crackling for release. Was it impolite to have intimate relations while staying as a guest at someone's home? The inquisition members all had rooms to retire to at the sprawling manor for the night. Was it wrong to sneak Blackwall into her room? She doubted she'd last the journey home without pulling Blackwall into a bush though. Perhaps if they were quiet? She was sure if they didn't use the belts while they were staying there she could bite the pillow of something and no one would be any the wiser.

Blackwall broke the kiss, his teeth tugging her bottom lip as he pulled back. Lexie gave a disappointed mew but quickly swallowed any further protest as she remembered the table full of people, all watching the display mutely.

Despite that revelation, her eyes lingered on the warden's lips, shivering as he traced them hungrily with his tongue.

The trance was hard to break, but when she finally did drag her eyes away, she found every eye upon them. The burning in her cheeks intensified tenfold and she grabbed up her goblet, gulping down its contents in the hope of quenching the heat in her cheeks and other places.

There was a flicker of panic when the wine only seemed to make her cheeks burn hotter than before but she placed the now empty goblet back on the table as casually as she could and shifted a little to try and give the illusion there was absolutely nothing abnormal about the situation what-so-ever.

"This wine?" She gave a slight cough and then pointed to the goblet as a servant refilled it. "What...What did you say the name of it was again? it's a lovely vintage..." She asked the hostess, trying to cover the desperate awkwardness she now felt.

The noble woman appeared to miss her question completely, her hand on her heart as she ogled the inquisitor.

"I'm going for some air..." Blackwall leaned in to her and whispered.

"Me too! What a wonderful idea!" Lexie blurted before the woman could say anything. She was up and out of her chair in a flash, heading out onto the balcony with a little too much haste.

Blackwall was far less urgent in his retreat, easing his chair back carefully before standing and bowing slightly to the hostess before turning to follow Lexie onto the balcony.

Once they were gone, the hostess let out a sickened noise and had to open her fan to try and cool herself.

"Is...Is that what you free-marcher's are like?!" She bleated. "This...This is what the inquisition stands for?! Disgusting, inappropriate behavior between relatives?! "

Cassandra raked her hand down her face and made a mental note to smack Lexie very, _very _hard when they got back to Skyhold.

"Oh no no no!" Leliana intervened. "You do not understand my lady. Warden Blackwall is the inquisitor's..._Companion..._ They are no relation. They were merely enacting their own brand of humor!"

There was an unexpected snort and roar of laughter from further down the table as Sera finally lost all ability to control herself. Dorian soon followed, along with Varric and even Cullen.

Out on the balcony, Lexie leaned against the stone banister, cradling her red face between her cool palms to try and sooth the burn.

The comedy of the situation had finally hit Blackwall beside her and he stood chuckling to himself, burning his fingers with the match he was trying to light his pipe with as he found it impossibly hard to hold it still between his teeth as he laughed.

"That was naughty..." Lexie finally said and moved her palms to cover her eyes.

"She bloody deserved it." Blackwall chortled. "Bleeding nobles. Always assuming things. They never ask. Always gotta be how it appears." His voice became laced with venom then and Lexie moved her hands to look at him.

"And how does it appear?" she asked him.

He took a moment to answer, the laughter now gone and replaced with a dark brooding as he smoked his pipe.

"She assumed I was your dad...I'm old enough to be your dad..." He grumbled around his pipe, smoke bellowing from his mouth and mingling with his beard.

"Well you are...kinda." Lexie countered. It was true. Had her father been alive, he'd have been maybe a couple years older then her lover.

"Does that bother you?" He retorted quickly. They'd been over this. a couple of times since that night when he'd been waiting for her in her room, his mind totally fixated on her and his body aching for more.

Never, not even in his youth, had he craved for someone so badly.

She gave him _That look_. He knew that look very well now. She gave him that same look every time they had this conversation. It said many things to him. Many things she didn't have to say out loud.

That look always reassured him. It told him she wanted, nor would have, any other. It made him feel a tit for asking her such a ridiculous question. It comforted him that she did not care that grey was already creeping into his beard and into the hair at his temples.

"I'm not having this conversation with you again, remember?" She finally turned away, her eyes gazing out at the starry sky that blanketed Orlais.

"Yea..." He replied quietly and stepped closer to her. His arm wrapped itself around her tapered waist and pulled her close. "I remember." He removed his pipe and leaned to kiss her temple, his heart lifting as she moved into his touch.


End file.
